Recently I have been thinking of deepening my practice of Cundi Mantra recitation. (My spiritual adviser has long ago recommended daily recitation of the Cundi Mantra;I have been somewhat inconsistent, but I still want to practice it.)

In Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, Cundi practice is quite widely known and practised. One of its features that is particularly appealing to some is it does not require the practitioner to refrain from eating meat and eggs, eating the five pungent vegetables, drinking alcohol, having a sexual relationship, etc. for it to be effective.

From what I know, proper Esoteric Cundi practice is best initiated and taught by a teacher with lineage. Proper practice requires things such as a special mirror, mandala, etc.

Of course, one may simply recite the mantra without the most proper Esoteric practice.

Kaji wrote:In Chinese Esoteric Buddhism, Cundi practice is quite widely known and practised. One of its features that is particularly appealing to some is it does not require the practitioner to refrain from eating meat and eggs, eating the five pungent vegetables, drinking alcohol, having a sexual relationship, etc. for it to be effective.

From what I know, proper Esoteric Cundi practice is best initiated and taught by a teacher with lineage. Proper practice requires things such as a special mirror, mandala, etc.

Of course, one may simply recite the mantra without the most proper Esoteric practice.

Thanks!

However, I am refering to the Sadhana written by Nan Huai Chin, and not the Sutra itself.

I want to know if the Mantras other than the Cundi Mantra in the Sadhana (preliminary chanting, post-mantra recitation, etc) are legitimate, 'orthodox' Buddhist mantras, and not (newly) created ones that modern schools (ex. True Buddha School, etc) fabricated...

reciting mantra can be considered as "esoteric "? , maybe the origin would be esoteric one, but in Korea and China, it seemed that mantra chanting has nothing to do with esoteric practice now. (at least most mantras) they don't need transmissions, recited by all lay-people- especially aged ladies - , in Korea in every ji-jang celebrating day(地藏齋日) the 13th day of every lunar month, all of old women machanically, recite it.

oh.. my mistake...i mistook cundi dharani for other one ...in fact cundi dharani is one of main dharanis in Korean buddhism. at least recited 3times in temple as a basic dharani for preparation of service (道場結界) it is contained in Thousand hand sutra(千手經: the brief version of 千手千眼觀自在菩薩廣大圓滿無碍大悲心大陀羅尼經 plus many other mantras and chantings) recited before every ceremony(there are other 30 mantras including maha karuna mantra in this Koreanized manual sutra) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQF9BWr-yQM

icylake wrote:reciting mantra can be considered as "esoteric "? , maybe the origin would be esoteric one, but in Korea and China, it seemed that mantra chanting has nothing to do with esoteric practice now. (at least most mantras) they don't need transmissions, recited by all lay-people- especially aged ladies - , in Korea in every ji-jang celebrating day(地藏齋日) the 13th day of every lunar month, all of old women machanically, recite it.

It is esoteric in the broad sense - not in the sense that the practice requires transmission by a lineage-holder and practice only in secrecy, but in the sense that they originated from esoteric Buddhism (e.g. from esoteric sutra) and, very importantly, it is a mystery as to how the practice works. That is, why and how does reciting such mantra bring such immense benefit beyond the mundane benefits of meditative recitation?

In this sense, Pure Land practice is also esoteric. I have read about this point in teachings by monastics. This is possibly one of the reasons why some Mahayana Buddhists cannot accept Pure Land practice.

I posted the same link right above. And I asked a question precisely about the same link above: how reliable is the practice found in the MeditationExpert Website? How reliable is Nan Huai Chin?

Again, I do not want to get into any Esoteric practice that isn't prescribed or recorded in the Buddhist sutras. If the mantras in this sadhana (apart from the obviously orthodox ones like the Cundi Mantra and Om Mani Padme Hum) were creations of say, Living Buddha School, then I surmise it would be wise to avoid it altogether, and just recite the Cundi Mantra plain and simple.